Promise » [cashton] √

4.8

[24th of March]

Calum

Luke

Don't try and talk to Ashton today. He's being unreasonable. Give him another day, and maybe he'll realise he can't keep being childish. 8:40 AM

Things really go that bad? 8:47AM

He'll come around 8:59 AM

He opened the phone app; irrational or not, he was going to, at the very least, let Ashton know not to expect him. And hear his voice. That made him feel pathetic, but it was true; these days, they usually at least got to say goodbye to each other in the mornings, even if they were both busy. He'd gotten used to it.

Ashton answered after two rings, "Calum?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, hey,"

"I didn't know if I'd hear from you," his voice sounded rough, and Calum worried he'd been crying. "Luke said he was going to tell you not to come by,"

"Yeah, he just texted me, but I just- I wanted to check on you. I'm sorry I left in such a hurry last night; I just- I didn't want to say something I couldn't take back. I was upset- I'm still upset, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Calum confessed, saying more than he'd intended but needing the other to know he wasn't ready to give up.

"I'm okay," Ashton said quietly, "Are you okay?"

"I called Luke last night, not one of my high points," he said, wanting Ashton to feel how desperate he was.

Ashton sighed, "I'm sorry I made you feel like that was your only option," Calum's heart stung; trust Ashton to make it clear he wasn't apologising for last night. That's why Calum couldn't believe he'd just been unclear; something else was at play, "We should talk this through in person if you're willing to see me,"

"I've got work tonight, and in the morning. That job Sierra recommended me for, so I really can't fuck it up, or she'll never set me up for anything again," he laughed, but he knew they could both hear how forced it was, "I'll see how things are going tomorrow, and I'll text you or call, or something," he didn't want to commit to anything, his anger with Ashton had been coming and going so quickly that by tomorrow afternoon the thought of seeing him might actually make him sick.

"Okay, have a good time at work," Ashton sounded meek, and Calum felt both bad and annoyed; how could he not see he held all the cards here? Yeah, Calum was the one whose feelings were hurt, it was up to him to forgive, but it was up to Ashton to give him a reason to forgive him. All he wanted was Ashton to give him some sort of explanation other than, 'I think you misunderstood me'.

"Love you," Calum said, waiting half a beat to hear a happy little 'Love you too' back before hanging up.

He desperately wanted to know how Luke and Ashton's conversation had gone. For Luke to call him childish, and say he was being unreasonable was unheard of. That felt monumental to Calum. Luke had sided with him.

He didn't actually have work tonight; Sierra had hooked him up with a job doing a few hours on set as a consultant, a character was a live music photographer, and the director had a massive budget to burn, so he was hiring consultants for everything. So Calum had gotten a nice offer for a few hours of work.

Luke

Hey, tell Sierra if Ashton asks, I needed to be on set tonight as well. Didn't want to flat-out say I didn't want to see him yet. 9:22 AM